In the messages he said he's going to change the name of his dog, Tiger, because it's a n----- name and joked about a photo of graffiti that shows the Bugs Bunny character Elmer Fudd standing in front of a sign that says "Negro Season."

Shaw's lawyer said he was just "playing."

Shaw wrote that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "was nothing but a raciast (sic) womanizer ... but because someone shot him, I get a day off with pay each year so I will take it."

He also sent a message saying, "IHOP was DAMN BLACK today....I thought maybe the Govt checks might have arrived."

On and on and on. Each thing he wrote, more disgusting than the last.

And believe it or not, that's not the most troubling part of this.

Todd Shaw was a Louisville cop for more than 20 years before he retired as a sergeant and moved on to Prospect, where he rose to be an assistant chief.

In all that time, none of his co-workers figured out that Shaw was a racist thug?

We're expected to believe that Shaw, who felt comfortable sharing thoughts like this with a police recruit, didn't feel comfortable saying things like this around his buddies on the force?

You want us to believe that when Shaw and other police officers would go out for a beer after their shifts ended that Shaw wouldn't talk about the people he arrested that day in the most racist of terms?

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe for a second that all cops are racists. Most that I know are good people who are trying to do very difficult and sometimes very stressful jobs.

But there is obviously a problem with the culture in departments that allow racists like Shaw to hang around for more than two decades and to thrive.

That's not a new problem here. In 1985 a former member of the old Jefferson County Police Department testified in court that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan and so had at least 20 other police officers in and around Jefferson County.

Their racist beliefs were certainly known by other officers as well.

Who knows why many cops don't speak up?

Some, no doubt, agree with Shaw. Others likely just don't want to cause trouble or be seen by their fellow officers as someone they can't trust.

And there is certainly an "us versus them" mentality with police who see themselves as under siege.

Shaw's lawyer, Michael Burns, spoke to it: "His Facebook messages were made privately between colleagues and friends who shared the reality of being police officers in today’s culture where police are demonized and demoralized for doing what is required to keep the community safe."

But here's the thing: As long as racist cops go unchecked, efforts to build trust between African-Americans and police will be for naught.

Cops need to come forward and help get racist cops like Shaw off the street. And police leadership needs to address the culture that allows racism to thrive.

That's why Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad's statement about this latest scandal was so troubling. In it, he talked about the recruit, who dropped out of training before he became an officer.

He didn't acknowledge Shaw's long history with the Louisville Metro Police.

Racism in police departments is an issue that cops themselves have to clean up. Until they do, they need to stop complaining about being "demonized and demoralized."

And others need to accept that those football players aren't kneeling to disrespect the American flag.

They are kneeling because for every high-profile shooting of an unarmed black man, there are a thousand Todd Shaws, whose racism is playing out in other ways.

Joseph Gerth's column runs on most Sundays and at various times throughout the week. He can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/josephg.